Rail-tie expansion.



H. w. PLEISTER.

RAIL TIE EXPANSION. APPLICATION F ILED DEC.19,I9I6.

1,295,589.- Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

INVENTOB A TTOR/VE Y TED STATES PATENT OFFIE HENRY W. PLEISTER, OF WESTFIELD, EW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T0 HENRY B. NEWHALL; HENRY IB. NEWHALL, JR., EXECUTOR OF SAID HENRYIB. l\TEVV1E[.ALL, DECEASED.

, RAIL-TIE EXPANSION.

Specification of Letters Patent. i t nt 25, 1919 Original'application filed October 2, 1915,'Seria1 No. 53,749. Divided and this application filed December 19,

1916. Serial No. 137,759.

To all whom it may concern: Be-it known that I, HENRYPLEIsTER, a citizen of the United States,-and a resident of Westfield, in the county. of Union and Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new'and usefulImprovementsin Rail- Tie Expansions, of which the following'is a specification, taken in connection with'the accompanyingdrawings, which form a part of the same. r This caseis a division of myLcO ending application for rail', tie expansion,Ser. No. 53,749 filed October 2, 1915. .My inventionarelates to a rail tie expansion for securing railroad rails to. ties:

.It is well known that in untreated and soft wood ties the common drive spike tears and breaks the fiber of the wood when it is driven into the tie. Such drive spikes-do not have a firm engagement, throughout theirlength, with the fiber of the tie. Traffic" over the rails, whether the roadbe curved or straight throws great longitudinal strain upon the spike, which tends to lift it out of its hole in the tie.v On curvesthe spike,in addition to resisting the upward pull of the rail astherolling load passessover it, also has to. resist :tremendous: lateral strains, whichtend to enlarge thehole in. which the spike ismounted. ,Where-these lateral. and longitudinal strains are thrown upon the spike they render even a new tieiunservices ableina comparatively short time. V With such spikes water rapidly leaks into the 'hole, resulting in rotting. anddeterioration of the already lacerated fiber of the tie.- It is well known that track walkers and section gangs are continually driving back such loosened spikes and respiking the ties. In ties which have been treated with some preservatives, as for example, creosote, it has been found that the life of such a tie would be greatly prolonged but for the local deterioration of'the tie due to spiking and respiking. It is only-on a comparatively small area ofthe tie that spikes can be apT-i plied. Such treated ties are comparatively expensive,,and the necessity of discarding them simply because they have become .unserviceable from spiking and respiking is a considerable expense in railroad upkeep. Tolengthen the life of such a tie screwspikes are sometimes used which give a 1011?? life to the tie than the drive spikes.

In, ngland the practice has developed of bolting all the way through the tie. This is very is inaccessible. p

One of the results accomplished by my invention is a fastening which can beplaced and replaced from one side of the tie and which will give the maximum holding capacity with the least deterioration of the tie whether'it beold or new. 1 I

My invention may be used either with new ties or with old ones. which, under the presentpractice, would, be discarded, and will make such old ties serviceable for a long period.

WVhile I will describe my invention in connection with wood ties, it will'be understood, that it, and the claims based thereon, are equally applicable to other forms of tiesmade of a composition and that the invention and the claims apply equally well where therailsare fastened directly to wood structures, such as stringers, beams, floors, sills, girders and the like. o

My invention further relates to such. a rail tie expansionwhich is simple and inexpensive. f V

I have shown in the accompanying drawings an illustrative embodiment of-my in vention, but of courseit is to be understood that my invention is notto be confined simply to-the forms illustrated. In these drawings the same reference numerals.referv to similar parts. V I Figure 1 is a fragmentary transverse vertical section of my present invention, the

spikezmember and spike being shown inside elevation; the spike member being partly broken away. I I

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the spike member shown in Fig. 1. 1

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation showlng myrail tie expansion used with arail brace;

Figmtis a fragmentary transversevertical section of Fig. 3 the spikemember being partly broken away. V

Inhe accompanying drawing, 1- is any form of TV-rail held to the tie 2 which is ordinarily wood and which; may be treated oruntreated with a preservative. In this.

tie, if it is a new one, I bore a hole 3 preferably at an; incline to the surfaced of the tie. the case may be, my rail tie spike member which may be formed inany .sultable manexpensive as the underside of the tie In this hole I either drive or drop, as

ner and of any suitable contour, those shown in the drawing, being simply illustrative. In all forms, however, the spike member only contacts with a part of the wall of the hole permitting the rail spike, whether it be a drive spike or a screw spike, to contact with the portions of the hole not in contact with the spike member. I have shown my spike member as being formed of one part which is my preferred construction, it being understood, however, that in all forms of my invention, the spike, whatever its form may be, contacts with some portion of the wall of the tie to expand the rail tie expansion, at the same time that the spike member contacts with other portions of the wall of the same hole.

In Fig. 1, the spike member 5 is provided with an open side 6 with which the screw spike 7 contacts at the same time as it contacts with the wall 8 in the tie 2.

Preferably, though not necessarily, the open side 6 of the spike member 5 is provided with interrupted screw threads 10 to cooperate with the male threads 11 upon the screw spike 7. I also preferably provide the open side 6 with an inclined surface as shown, the cross-sectional area of the spike member 5 being less near the outer end 12 than at the inner end 13.

In this form the spike member 5 is driven or dropped into the hole 3 and the screw spike 7 is then inserted and screwed by turning the angular head 14 of the screw spike, which will cause the screw threads 11 to bite into that portion of the wall of the hole which is not covered by the spike me1nher 5, and at the same time they will coact with the spike member and give a powerful expansion. This expansion serves to compress and preserve both portions of the wall of the hole, that in contact with the spike member 5, as well as that in contact with the screw spike. Not only will this expansion give a powerful grip in the tie 2, and serve to make the tie and the rail 1 act as one member, but this expansion also, in addition to the above function, tends to prevent moisture working into the hole and thereby further preserves the life of the tie.

The hole 3 is preferably bored at an angle to the face 4 of the tie to permit the head 15 of the spike member contacting directly with the incline flange 16 of the T-rail 1. It will, therefore, be seen that in my in vention only a comparatively small portion of the wall of the hole 3 is subjected to the action of the screw threads 11 on the screw spike 7, while the greater part of the wall of the hole receives a powerful frictional side thrust by the lateral movement of the spike member. Preferably, though not necessarily, I make the exterior of my spike member plain or I may provide it with projections or corrugations.

In this form of my invention as well as in my other forms illustrated, described and claimed in the parent application above referred to, my rail tie expansion has a greater bearing in the tie than is obtained either by the screw spike or the drive spike. This insures a greater distribution of the strain of the rolling load throughout the fiber of the wood and accordingly less deterioration of the tie. While the screw spike is considered in practice preferable to the drive spike its threads cut up the fiber of the wood and cause it to deteriorate at a much earlier date than if they had not been so cut. By my invention when a screw spike is used, I insure that it will only partially cut up the fiber of the wood and this damage is largely overcome by the tremendous expansion and compression to which the wood in engagement with the screw spike is subjected.

It is further observed that the greatest displacement of the wood is at theextreme inner end of the hole which forces a larger aperture at that end than at the mouth of the hole. This causes a dovetail effect which increases the holding capacity of my fastening over other forms of drive spikes and screw spikes which enter or create parallel bores.

In old ties my invention is equally appli cable. In such an old tie, in which thespike hole has been so enlarged by constant spiking and respiking, and rotting and tearing of the fiber of the wood, in the hole that, under the present practice would necessitate the tie being discarded as unserviceable and absolutely dangerous, my rail tie expansion will permit this old tie to remain in its position in the road bed, without the delay and labor ofremoving it and the insertion of a new tie, besides by my invention I save the cost of a new tie.

In such an old tie my spikemember 5 may be driven or dropped into the old hole and then the old or a new spike may be used to obtain the requisite expansion and compression of the fiber of the tie. Preferably, in such an old hole, I would use a spike memher and a screw spike. If the form shown in Fig. 1, for example, be used, in the old hole by screwing up on the head 14 of the screw spike 7, a powerful expansion would be obtained and one which would so compress the old fiber in contact with the spike member 5 that it would practically give new life to that portion of the wall of the hole, at the same time the reaction from this compression would cause the male threads 11 upon the screw spike 7 to bite powerfully into the other portion of the wall of the hole and'into that portion of the wood of the tie which has not rotted or otherwise been rendered unserviceable. t

' It is therefore, clear that with my invention, a new tie, whether treated or untreated with a preservative, can be kept in the road bed until the fiber throughout the tie deteriorates to such a state as to render it unserviceable for further use instead of discarding it for a local deterioration due, under the present practice, to driving and redriving drive spikes, or positioning or repositioning screw spikes. This is particularly desirable in comparatively expensive ties treated with a preservative which formerly had to be discarded even though they had suffered only loczal deterioration where the spikes had been use It is customary on curves to userail braces. One form of brace I have shown at 19, Fig. 3. This brace has a strengthening rib 20, and a flange 21 to lie adjacent to the flange 16 of the rail 1.

The tremendous lateral strains which are thrown on the rail braces 19 are transmitted to the tie 2 in the manner I have previously described by the head 15 of the spike member contacting directly with the inclined surface 22 of the rail brace 19. While I have shown a rail brace cooperating with two of my rail tie expansions it is of course to be understood that any number may be used.

Various modifications and adaptations of my invention may be made.

In the form of my invention illustrated the rail 1 is held to the tie 2 by the spike member 5, which is preferably driven by a maul, sledge hammer or any suitable tool into the hole 3 in the tie 2 until the head 15 of the spike member 5 contacts with the flange of the rail 1. This serves to hold the rail to the tie, the spike member acting as an ordinary driven spike.

This holding action is supplemented and perfected by the tremendous expansion and hold of the screw spike 7, when it is screwed home as shown for example in Fig. 1, its head 14 engaging the flange of the spike member and its male threads 11 cooperating with the female interrupted threads 10 in the spike member 5. It is therefore clear that this rail tie expansion consists of a driven spike member, which itself serves to hold the rail to the tie, and also a rotative member which by moving the spike member laterally and by screw action still further serves to positively hold the rail to the tie, be the tie old or new.

If the tie 2 is an old one, in which the hole 3 was the original hole, in which the ordinary form of drive spike has been used, my spike member 5 would tend to somewhat enlarge that hole and compress the old lacerated and broken fiber. forming the wall of the hole with which it contacts.

' I may in some cases, though not necessarily, provide the inner end of my spike member 5 with a more or less sharp pointed end 17 Having thus described this invention in connection with the illustrative embodiments thereof to the details of which I do not desire to be limited except as required by the scope of the claims, what is claimed as new and what it is desired to secure by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. A rail tie fastener comprising the combination of a drive spike member having a surface broken away to permit a portion of a screw spike to extend out from the drive spike member and a screw spike adapted to cooperate with the drive spike member and also with a tie through the interrupted or broken away portion of the drive spike member.

2. A rail tie fastener comprising the combination of a drive spike member provided with interior screwthreads and having a surface broken away to permit a portion of a screw spike to extend out from the drive spike member, and a screw spike adapted to cooperate with the interior screwthreads of the drive spike member and also with a tie through the interrupted or broken away pertion of the drive spike member.

3. A rail tie fastener comprising the combination of a drive spike member having a surface broken away to permit a portion of a screw spike to extend out from the drive spike member, and provided with a comparatively sharp point to assist in seating in a hole in a rail tie, and a screw spike adapted to cooperate with the drive spike member and alsowith a tie through the interrupted or broken away portion of the drive spike member.

4. The combination of a rail tie spike member having a flange to engage with the flange of a rail and having an open side to permit a rail spike to engage directly with the rail tie spike member and with the rail tie, and a rail spike having a head engaging with the flange of the rail tie spike member.

5. The combination of a rail tie spike member having a flange to engage with the flange of a rail and having an open side to permit a rail screw spike to engage directly with the rail tie spike member and with the rail tie, and a rail screw spike having a head engaging with the flange of the rail tie spike member.

H. W. PLEISTER.

Witnesses:

A. M. WILLIAMS, M. R. RYAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0. 

